Working with costume designer Mirren Gordon-Crozier on the Apple TV+ miniseries Chemistry lessonsActress Aja Naomi King was impressed by the extent to which each costume was “anchored in this value system of who these people really are.”
The historical drama offers a fresh look at mid-century fashion and spans the years 1949 to 1957, shining a spotlight on women who reject what Gordon-Crozier calls “the traditional color palette of 1950s women” and instead favor “color palettes, textures, fabrics and patterns” that fit the more grounded image they want to convey.
RELATED: Brie Larson on her life in show business – from Oscar to Nissan, from “Kong” to “Marvel” and “Lessons in Chemistry” – The actress’s page
An adaptation of the novel of the same name by Bonnie Garmus, Chemistry lessons follows Elizabeth Zott (Brie Larson), whose dream of becoming a scientist is put on hold in a patriarchal society. When Elizabeth is fired from her lab, she takes a job as the host of a TV cooking show. Dinner at six and sets out to teach a nation of overlooked housewives – and the men who are suddenly listening – much more than just recipes.
King, like Gordon-Crozier, received her first Emmy nomination for her work in the series, in which she plays Harriet Sloane, Elizabeth’s neighbor who becomes one of her closest confidants while preventing the construction of a highway that will destroy the predominantly black neighborhood of Sugar Hill.
RELATED: “Lessons In Chemistry” star Aja Naomi King on her first Emmy nomination for “Transformed” Harriet Sloane: “This is magic, this is absolute magic”
While “the secretaries and Fran Frasks of the show mimicked whatever they were advertising at Sears or in whatever magazines they happened to be reading,” says Gordon-Crozier, Elizabeth and Harriet “had bigger things to do than worry about the latest fashions,” and opted instead for a “more functional” look.
In portraying a woman who wants to be taken seriously in a patriarchal and often still racist society, King was struck by the thought “that the way you look gives you some security, in the sense of being taken seriously or being thought of or perceived in a certain way.” Speaking to Gordon-Crozier on today’s episode of “The Process,” the actress adds, “It’s like the clothes become armor.”
When it came to the looks of Elizabeth and Harriet, Gordon-Crozier had to “walk a fine line between something down-to-earth and something ‘boring'” and make the costumes look “realistic but not too stylized.” If there was one phrase to describe the look that Zott personally was aiming for, it would be “not too frivolous, but… fashionable.”
RELATED: Lessons In Chemistry Cinematographers Jason Oldak and Zachary Galler on Subtlety in Filming and Directing a ’60s Cooking Show – Production Value
That’s what Gordon-Crozier had in mind when she designed custom lab coats for Elizabeth to wear throughout the series. While racking her brain about how to make each one look practical while also jazzing it up with a bit of style, she thought back to a traveling Dior show she’d attended in Paris where there was an entire room full of white dresses, each stylistically unique. The idea, she said, was to use “one fabric and similar silhouettes and change literally the smallest detail, whether it was black piping or… a scarf through the collar and just different fasteners and closure styles” to make each look unique.
While at the beginning of the series, says Gordon-Crozier, Elizabeth “doesn’t want to stand out at all,” wearing sweater vests, a work-appropriate skirt and the same muted color palette as the men around her, her style evolves once she’s in her element. Dinner at sixAt that point, the designer recalls, “she started having fun and being playful, and you can tell a little weight was lifted off her shoulders. She loves her daughter so much, and she enjoys this cooking show, even though it may not be her life goal.”
The color Gordon-Crozier used as a common thread in portraying Elizabeth through all stages of her life was green, which King said was very fitting because you can “literally see her blossom” over the course of the show.
Developed by Lee Eisenberg, Chemistry lessons last month received a total of 10 Emmy nominations. Larson was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Anthology Series or a Movie, and Lewis Pullman received a Supporting Actor nomination. In addition to the aforementioned nominations for Costume Design and Supporting Actress, the show also scored in the Outstanding Miniseries or Anthology Series category, as well as in the areas of Cinematography, Direction, Credits Design, Original Music and Theme Music.
Watch the full conversation between Gordon-Crozier and King above.
